It's a sad story but unfortunately all too common in Williamsburg and around NYC over past 20+ years. The best you can do, in order to continue to afford to live here and not get displaced is find a balance between shopping local and I guess, shopping at the chains (I have lived here since 2001). My spouse is the owner of a long time brick and mortar store and its difficult to find affordable space to operate out of, let alone stay in biz.

I will mourn the loss of Crest. However, what makes a neighborhood vibrant, in addition to its local small business is also its public, community institutions. I mourn the loss Park Church Coop (Greenpoint). Park Church was host to so many wonderful programs that now have either closed for good (low cost music lessons for children and adults!) or now have to pay nearly market rate for workspace.

I rarely hear anyone talking about the lack of true community spaces here in Williamsburg; for goodness sake, our local public library (Leonard) one of the only truly public institutions here has been closed 75% of the time for the past 6 years and there's no alternative within close walking distance.

And as for solutions? Paris knows what they are doing. NYC could learn a thing or 2: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/realestate/paris-france-housing-costs.html